A Cambridge woman pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges in connection with running a brothel network out of Cambridge and Watertown, court records read. Han Lee, 42, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit, persuade, induce and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and money laundering conspiracy. She made her plea with no agreement with the prosecution.
“It is a fact that I ran the illegal business, but I did not control the women within it,” she said through the interpreter, the Boston Globe . “They all came voluntarily of their own free will.” Along with Jummyung Lee, 30, of Dedham, and James Lee, 68, of Torrance, California, Han Lee was Fairfax in connection with the brothel network that also operated in Farifax and Tyson, both in Virginia, according to court records.
Elected and military officials, security-cleared government officials, executives from high-tech and pharmaceutical companies, doctors, professors, attorneys, scientists and accountants, among others made up the list of commercial buyers whom officials believe paid for sex with women at the brothels. The customers found the women through two main online platforms: a site called bostontopten10.com , and another named browneyesgirlsva.
blog , according to federal prosecutors. None of the buyers have so far been named, nor charged. Prosecutors are committed to holding those who ran the scheme accountable, along with tho.
